The settings of applications and operating systems of computing devices in a network can be managed (e.g., controlled and/or changed) from a centralized administrative interface. For example, an administrator can log in to a computing device in a network via a centralized administrative interface and use login scripts to manage the settings of the applications and/or operating system of the computing device. However, such a process may be highly customized and/or unique to that particular computing device. That is, the administrator may be forced to log in to different computing devices in the network individually and use different login scripts to manage the settings of applications and operating systems of the different computing devices. Accordingly, such a process may be complex and/or time consuming for the administrator. Further, the administrator may not be able to determine whether the settings of the application and/or operating system of the computing device were successfully managed by the login scripts. That is, the administrator may not be able to enforce the management of the settings.
As an additional example, an administrator can deploy an administrative template to computing devices in a network via a centralized administrative interface, and the deployed template can manage the settings of the applications and/or operating systems of the computing devices. However, because of the architecture of the administrative template, the template may only be able to manage the settings of one type of application or operating system of the computing devices. For instance, the administrative template may only be able to manage registry settings. Further, the administrator may not be able to adjust the parameters of the administrative template. That is, the administrator may not be able to customize the administrative template for different computing devices in the network. Additionally, the administrator may not be able to determine whether the settings of the applications and/or operating systems of the computing devices were successfully managed by the administrative template. That is, the administrator may not be able to enforce the management of the settings.